Bon Iver's influential "For Emma, Forever Ago" album was released 10 years ago, and its impact on Justin Vernon, Eau Claire and music has never been the same.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Bon Iver performs on the Coachella Stage during day 2 of the Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival (Weekend 1) at the Empire Polo Club on April 15, 2017, in Indio, Calif.(Photo: Kevin Winter, Getty Images for Coachella)

The Mo Pop Festival's strongest lineup yet includes Bon Iver's first Detroit show in a decade, alongside an indie-rock upper class that includes the National, St. Vincent and Portugal. The Man.

Details on the 2018 edition are being announced this morning, as the boutique fest notches a fourth year at West Riverfront Park on the edge of downtown Detroit.

Mo Pop 2018 will run July 28-29. General admission tickets ($99.50 two-day pass, $75 single-day) will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at MoPopFestival.com. Tickets can be purchased without service charges at brick-and-mortar locations listed on the site. Children 12 and under will be admitted free when accompanied by a ticket holder.

Bon Iver — the much-extolled project led by folk-rock-electronic craftsman Justin Vernon — will be making just its second Michigan appearance, following a July 2008 show at Pontiac's Crofoot amid the debut album "For Emma, Forever Ago."

The National will arrive off a Grammy win for its seventh album, "Sleep Well Beast," while the long-working Portugal. The Man is riding high on its Motown-winking breakthrough hit "Feel it Still." Adventurous singer-songwriter St. Vincent comes with the best-of-2017 list fixture "Masseduction" in tow.

Indie-rock singer-songwriter St. Vincent(Photo: Handout photo)

Also on the 22-artist Mo Pop bill are rapper Vince Staples, Boston neo-grunge duo Highly Suspect and the L.A. hip-hop-R&B collective Brockhampton, on the heels of the group's two-night sellout last month at the Majestic Theatre.

Among the acts making Detroit debuts will be Clairo — the teenage soft-pop rookie who's become an Internet starlet — and young soul-pop Englishman Rex Orange County.

Boston indie pop artist Clairo(Photo: Handout photo)

As in past years, sets will be arranged on two stages with no overlapping performances. Other Mo Pop staples will return, including a showcase of Detroit restaurants, food trucks and breweries, a local crafts bazaar and a tented arcade featuring classic video games.

Six years into Mo Pop — two at Freedom Hill Amphitheatre, four at West Riverfront Park — the festival's reputation in the concert industry has grown, says co-director and talent buyer Jason Rogalewski. The festival increased its budget this year to attract targeted artists, he says.

"We always start off with our dream list. We've already got our 2019 list going," he says. "(Mo Pop) is definitely more on the radar of agents and bands, and they're reaching out ahead of time. Some that didn't work out this year are already talking about next year."

The fest is also now benefiting from a loyal fan base, he says: Early bird sales — tickets bought on faith before today's lineup announcement — were three times the pace of last year, he says.

"It speaks to the brand and the experience people are having at the festival," Rogalewski says. "That we're able to sell 10% of our capacity before the announcement is a positive trend."

Crowds have grown annually: Two-day attendance hit 25,000 last year, and organizers expect it to crack the 30,000 mark this July — a number that would qualify as a sellout based on the site's mandated capacity.

Still, there's a potential spanner in the works for Mo Pop: the planned transformation of West Riverfront Park. The Detroit RiverFront Conservancy is set to choose among four design proposals for the 22-acre park, which today is largely a flat, unencumbered green space.

It's possible the redesign "will be impacting us down the road," Rogalewski says, although the conservancy has "expressed that they love the festival and want West Riverfront Park to remain our home."

At the very least, he says, construction next year could force Mo Pop to find a temporary alternate site.

Ideally, Rogalewski says, the renovated park will make for an even better festival home, with a built-in electrical grid and running water.

"The biggest piece is having enough green space for the stages," he says.

Thousands of fans filled Detroit's scenic West Riverfront park during day two of the2017 Mo Pop on Sunday, July 30, 2017. The two-day music fest, celebrating, offered three stages of live music alongside an array of entertainment options. John Froelich, Special to the Free Press

Rebecca McMurray, left,and Maxine McCrain, right, of Pot and Box floral design, pose in their both during the fifth annual Mo Pop Festival at West Riverfront Park in Detroit Saturday, July 29, 2017. John Froelich, Special to the Free Press